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Myanmar's newly assertive press corps rallied Saturday against the suspension of two weekly magazines in a once unthinkable act of defiance against government censors.

Dressed in black T-shirts that read "Stop Killing Media," about 60 journalists held a petition drive to collect signatures from members of the media. The petition, addressed to President Thein Sein, calls for an end to censorship.

Thein Sein has eased censorship as part of sweeping reforms after decades of repressive military rule, but some forms of control still exist, as authorities made clear by suspending the Voice Weekly and Envoy this past week.

The Press Scrutiny Board informed the two weeklies that their publications were suspended for violating regulations, but did not explain further.

Reporters at the publications said they suspected the suspensions were linked to articles speculating about the details of an anticipated Cabinet reshuffle. The flourishing of press freedom has brought serious investigative reporting as well as sensationalism, both of which make the government uncomfortable.

A day after the suspension, nearly 100 journalists formed a group called the Committee for Freedom of the Press, which organized Saturday's rally in which journalists went to six media offices to gather signatures for the petition.

"News media are still being censored," says the petition drafted by the committee. "The recent suspension of (the two publications) shows the threats media face and the negative signs that exist despite the democratization process of Myanmar."

Journalists at the event called it historic.

"I've been working in media for 14 years, and I've never seen anything like this," said Kyaw Naing, an editor from Voice Weekly. "We've never had the opportunity to speak our minds on press freedoms."

But in a sign of the limitations that still exist, censors declared that information about Saturday's event was not suitable for publication.

Originally posted here:
Myanmar Journalists Demand End to Censorship

03-08-2012 15:27 Nickelodeon's 'iCarly' will air its series finale in November but Jennette McCurdy knows what comes next. She's getting her own show on the network co-starring Ariana Grande of 'Victorious.' McCurdy also talks about who her celeb crush is. (Aug. 3)

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'iCarly' Star Confesses Who Her Celeb Crush Is - Video

03-08-2012 19:54 Swimming the final individual race of his remarkable career, Michael Phelps came from behind to win the 100-meter butterfly for his third gold medal of the London Games. Teens Katie Ledecky and Missy Franklin also won gold. (Aug. 3)

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Phelps, Ledecky, Franklin All Golden at Olympics - Video

02-08-2012 12:01 Kayla Harrison made history by winning the women's 78-kilogram Olympic judo gold medal on Thursday, the United States' first-ever gold in the sport. (Aug. 2)

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Kayla Harrison Wins First-ever US Judo Gold - Video

Social media, until recently the hottest sector in Silicon Valley, is now getting the cold shoulder from investors, downgrades from analysts and criticism from some fans.

But while the hype around social networking companies has deflated, the industry is no where near a bust, experts say. Unlike the dot-com bubble more than a decade ago, when companies with no profits and scant revenues saw soaring valuations, many social media companies are pulling in millions in revenues as they change the way people work, play and communicate.

"The reality is, they are going through amazing growing pains," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies.

Many social media companies burst onto the Internet as culture-changing enterprises Now, though, some are being hammered by Wall Street.

Investors are dismayed with Facebook and Zynga. Twitter, meanwhile, triggered a public relations disaster when it shut down a British journalist's account after he criticized Twitter's Olympic partner, NBC -- and then reversed itself. And some advertisers are skeptical that social networks are the right platform for their ads.

Still, most analysts say the future is far from gloomy.

"They are still innovating at Facebook," said Kevin Lee, co-founder of Didit, an online

Nonetheless, investors are on edge. Facebook's market value has collapsed to about half of the record $104 billion valuation the company set when it began selling shares in May. "The jury is in: Facebook is not and will not be a second Google (GOOG)," IDC analyst Karsten Weide wrote after the company reported its first quarterly earnings last week that revealed its revenue slowing.

Social network companies Zynga, Pandora and Groupon also are trading far below their initial public offering price.

Both San Francisco-based online game company Zynga and Facebook have also been hit with lawsuits from investors. In Zynga's case, executives and early investors are accused of knowing the company was struggling when they sold millions of shares before announcing a substantial drop in projected earnings. Facebook and its banking partners have been targeted by lawsuits accusing them of misleading investors by failing to share information passed on to select Wall Street analysts that warned of less-than-rosy financial results for its first quarter as a public company.

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Social media, until recently a hot sector, faces growing skeptics